UFC sets Fight Night event in Baku for June, headlined by Hill vs. Roundtree

The UFC will head to Azerbaijan for the first time later this year.

The federation announced a Fight Night event for June 21 at the Baku Crystal Hall, headlined by a light heavyweight main event featuring Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.

“Azerbaijan and the city of Baku have an incredible history of hosting massive global sporting events,” said UFC President and CEO Dana White in a statement. “We have so many great athletes from in and around this country that it was a natural next destination for us.”

Hill is a former light heavyweight champion and Contender Series alum. He will make his second appearance in the octagon this year after a knockout loss to Jiří Procházka at UFC 311 in January. Rountree Jr. hasn’t fought since he lost to Alex Pereira at UFC 307 last October and will have a chance to surpass Hill in the light heavyweight rankings with a win in Baku.

Also on the Baku card will be Kyoji Horiguchi’s return to UFC, who will take on Tagir Ulanbekov in a flyweight bout.

Heavyweight Curtis Blaydes will fact Rizvan Kuniev, a Contender Series alumn who will make his UFC debut.

Ismail Naurdiev and Junyong Park will clash in a middleweight matchup, while Hamdy Abdelwahab and Mohammed Usman will fight at heavyweight. Two bantamweight fights will also be on the card. The first will see Irina Alekseeva face Klaudia Sygula, while the second will feature Daria Zhelezniakova taking on Melissa Mullins.